DMW: Filipino officers will not be ‘decertified’
MIGRANT WORKERS Secretary Susan “Toots Ople has assured the manning community that the government under President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will make sure Filipino seafarers will not be “decertified” by the European Commission this coming March.
Ople made the firm assurance during the New Year Get-Together and General Membership Meeting of the country’s first manning association, the Filipino Association for Mariners’ Employment (FAME), at the New Coast Hotel on Thursday, January 26.
Established in March 1974, FAME has a membership of 117 manning agencies and accounts for about 75 of the country’s total annual deployment of sea-based workers. Over 80 manning agencies showed up at the association’s first face-to-face gathering after three years to join the first general membership meeting in 2023.
Ople, who is widely known as a staunch advocate of the rights and welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), told top executives of manning agencies that the Chief Executive is doing his best to avert an adverse decision by the EC — that of withdrawing recognition of Philippineissued STCW certificates.
EC is expected to make the ruling in March this year on the state of the country’s compliance with the STCW Convention during its first meeting in 2023. This impending threat prompted a rushed meeting with European maritime authorities and shipowners when he visited Brussels to attend the EU-Asean Summit last month.
After he met with European shipowners, President Marcos ordered the creation of the International Advisory Council on Global Maritime Affairs, or IACGMA, to figure out how to resolve the issues that put the country in a precarious situation vis-a-vis European maritime authorities.
“He issued several directives already to make sure we will not be decertified,” Ople pointed out to underscore the President’s commitment to assist the manning community.
She exhorted members of FAME to do their share in bolstering the country’s position as the No. 1 supplier of qualified and competent seafarers for the global fleet.
“This is an administration that all of you can talk to, but the people beneath our wings should be the people in this room. So help us, lead us, engage us and encourage us,” Ople urged FAME members.
“Right now, in government, I am pushing as hard as I can. I facilitated the meeting in Brussels where the President met with shipowners. In the Japan trip, I am also working on Japanese shipowners to be accommodated in the President’s schedule,” Ople said, adding that she is an ally of the manning sector.
“You already have an ally in me, but I am only one; the DMW is only one.”
Ople urged FAME members to talk to and educate people in government aside from the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) about the maritime industry. “You also need to educate people outside Marina like CHEd (Commission on Higher Education) and even the policymakers.”
The DMW chief, however, was quick to clarify that she is not asking them to engage in lobbying. “It’s not lobbying, but engaging. Engage us, we are a new administration and our President is already kumagat, pardon the pun. The President is already onboard.”
She mentioned as an example in the issue of ambulance chasing, FAME should talk not only to DMW but the Labor department as well such as the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) and National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC).
Ople even made a specific proposal to make the coming 49th founding anniversary of FAME more significant. “On March 1, we can have a dialogue with DMW there, DoLE, NCMB, NLRC, FAME, and the seafarers to be represented by Amosup. Let’s make that happen.”
“We need to show the world that we are working together toward a very concise, clear roadmap for the future. If there’s a message that I can leave on this occasion is that this is an administration that is willing and very much happy to engage you. So, don’t lose that opportunity,” the DMW chief concluded.